Under Armour plans to build a $1 billion basketball brand around Stephen Curry.
“I’m as proud, I think, of the quality of people we have,” Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank said, speaking about how Curry carries himself off the court. “But from the Curry One [basketball shoe] to the Curry Two, we’ve been modifying and chasing that a little bit where we had pretty limited expectations of what we really wanted to do with that product to begin with... It’s going to help elevate what was about a $100 million basketball business. And you know our goal is building a billion-dollar-basketball brand.”
Under Armour said footwear revenue climbed 41% over a year ago and cited the strong growth to the introduction of the Curry One signature basketball shoe.
While Under Armour seems to be on the right track, senior Sterne Agee & Leach analyst Sam Poser said talk of a billion-dollar basketball business is premature. Under Armour’s basketball business would have to grow 30% a year for the next 10 years for it to reach $1 billion.
“Stephen Curry is a great player,” Poser said. “But it’s about whether he’s able to gain that iconic status where wearing his shoes is cool.”